Effective Communication through Mirroring Gestures

If you want to communicate effectively with another person, you may find yourself mirroring his or her gestures. That means that your gestures become similar to the other person’s, but not so identical that you’re like the other person’s shadow!

By adopting a similar gesture and movement pattern to another person, you can increase the rapport between yourself and someone else. Observe how the person moves. If he or she moves quickly and you move slowly, your patterns are at odds. Speed yourself up a bit or slow down until you’re both comfortable with one another.

After trust has been established, you can go back to your preferred behaviour pattern and watch the other person comfortably follow your lead.